[Spoiler free] Review: ps5 version, 22 hours in

[DaylightDemon]

So yeah, im 22 hours into the game and due to the story pacing, the combat that keeps me engaged and mechanics being added it feels like im already 30 hours in or so, so much is happening in this game.

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visuals
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i think the visuals of this game speak for themselves. if youve seen the trailer you know what to expect. i play on the ps5 in performance mode and the framerate seems to be mostly stable at 60 and it just looks great.

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mechanics:
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the turn based combat with action commands in this game is visually stunning and snappy.
i love the persona style menu. combat is fast and engaging. its turn based but has timing QTEs for your abilities (that use an AP- system) and a doge and parry system for enemies attacks.
dodging is the safe damage mitigation option while parry is super tight and you have to rely on very fast and specific audio and visual queues to consistantly get it right and learn the timings. but its rewarding and for me personally, very doable.

but more importantly, clair obscur has a multi layered system for character building and progression. this is the tactcis half of the turn based combat.

the layers are basically:
- attribute points
- weapons
- pictos (accessory slots)
- luminas: accessory slot passive effects learnable after 4 battles with em equipped. those are basically your badges
- Skills (of which you can have 6 active per character)

your items are at bonfires refillable charges that you can also find more via exploration to add to your max charges

you probably see where this is going. yeah its a lot and i havent even mentioned half of what else this game has to offer mechanics wise. and it all works together beautifully to always give you things to work towards or consider or to reskill your characters because your new wepon unlocks a broken new synergy you wanna try out or you found a pictos that can give your characters hp back when they kill an enemy and you want to unlock it as luminas for every character to use for badge points.

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exploration (the world and what you do in clair obscur)
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so the games story takes you through areas, which are basically instances with sometimes maze like, sometimes more linar structure with enemies, optional loot, platforming stuff, puzzles, or even optional harder boss type enemies hidden away in some cave. they vary greatly in theme. clair obscures world is surreal and magical and many very videogamey tropes and ideas exist there, with little context as to why specifically an area like this or structures and plants and creatures like these exist there . i think its one of these things in this game that where done just because its fun to just make up cool stuff in videogames. but exploring them feels mostly rewarding and motivating. you will mostly fight and loot in those areas, which is a gameplay loop in itself that just works.

at the end of most of the story relevant areas is a bossfight. those are great too, because as expected, they really skillcheck you and also stacheck your builds. if you are too glasscanony or just have too little damage, bossfights can feel like they tank a lot or might even feel impossible at first without equipping higher level pictos or respecing. thankfully, the respec resource is readily available if you explore the areas and world map enough. theres enough for experimentation but not enough for constant respecing.

most harder bossfights in this game are optinonal though and some you encounter you can actually beat the first time, others are impossible until late in the game. its always fun to try a new optional boss and see if you are already strong enough to beat em. some seem just doable enough that ive spent like 10 tries and then finally beat em. felt amazing.

inbetween the areas is the world map. a classic jrpg staple. theres always a marked area with your next objective, but plenty of optional locations, loot, traders you name it.

i love me a good jrpg world map and this one ticks all the boxes. theres goofy stuff, hard lategame or optional dungeons, collectables in beautiful locations or behind goofy and sometimes rage- game inspired minigames. the world map also has this miniature world charm. as youd expect, the world map opens up gradually and later in the game you get to swim and even fly to reach all the places and do one completion run before ending the game.

the world map makes the world feel bigger than it is and adds so much content. i hate that some jrpg series that used to have em scrapped em in later entries (looking at you tales series).

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soundtrack
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the soundtrack of this game is so phenomenal that i had to give it its own category.
its very nier inspired. predominantly piano, orchestrals and singing or even vocoders are used here to make a melancholic masterpiece. in the fights the soundtrack is quite varied. epic and triumphant or calm and daunting, this game has the right music for the right enemy. i love that this game chooses to complement the bombastic visuals during fights or cutscenes with often rather minimalistic but effective melodies or ambiance. some of those tracks i would expect in the an online chess tournament stream which is very fitting because combat, even with all the action command QTEs, is still very tactical. this soundtrack knows when to be loud and knows when to be quiet. the more lighthearted moments of this game are also accompanied fittingly.

man its hard to describe music. if you liked nier automatas soundtrack youre gonna love this one is all im gonna say (without implying that its a straight copy bc its not)

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the problems
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no review would be complete without listing some things that for me personally, where a bit finnicky. those are mostly nitpicks that keep this game from being perfect. none of those really kill the game for me.

- there is no map or minimap in the main areas. theres only a map for the world map.
this can lead to a bit of frustration since some areas are much more complicated and have winding paths or crossings than others. on some, particularely earlier maps it feels like no map is fine, but then others you can get lost in pretty easily or not know where the main path is and where the optional loot or stuff is. i think it was a conscious decision to leave out area maps, but the more complex the areas get the more i feel like id need one just to make sure ive seen everything or i can more easily tell where to go.

- on the ps5 with the dualsense controllers, sprinting is finnicky and if you turn too much with the left stick or switch directions, the sprint gets interruped resulting in a stuttery kind of movement. on one of my controllers this os worse than on the other. its a bummer and i hope it gets fixed somehow.

- theres some collision wonkyness here and there. mostly noticable during platforming (the platforming in this game is thankfully not super frequent and also never super challenging. some minigames can be frustrating due to this though. on the world map ive gotten stuck once on some rocks.
the attack you can use to break stuff or first strike enemies has also a weird hitbox that doesnt quite fit its very big visual animation.

- the hud in this game can be very small if you play on a tv and sit a few meters away. theres no option for hud text size or hud icon size. i think this feature is mandatory for a game this reliant on icons and text in battle, but also while changing skills, pictos and luminas.

- mouth motion in cutscenes vs in places like the camp: in cutscenes, everything is motion captured but in other situations it seems like the engine does it automatically based on the audio which can look weird and jarring.

- the more you play, the more often you encounter enemies that are meant for very late in the game and also more gimmick bosses that are basically ALL about the parry mechanic. some of the last optional bosses i fought where straight up never stopping attacking and i had to perfect parry to fill their stun meter so i could finally even attack them back.

those feel like gimmicks that are for a very specific type player (the parry addict) and can suck for everybody else.

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I guess thats my review of clair obscur: expedition 33. i know i didnt cover everything this game has to offer but those where the points i wanted to emphasize in this review.

i dont give a rating because i think ratings are goofy. if anything my ratng is:
Game of the Year 2025